Tuesday, April 20, 2010

The Voice of the Lord: Part III


I have heard it said that Celtic Christians speak of “thin places.” Thin places are places in this world where contact with the holy seems easy. Some of these thin places become pilgrimage goals for the faithful, others are known just by only a few, and others seem to be special places for one time only.

The gospel passages describing the Transfiguration of Christ (Mark 9, Matthew 17, Luke 9) depict what is perhaps the ultimate in “thin place” experiences. Peter, James and John accompany Jesus up a mountain to pray. In that lonely place they suddenly see Jesus with new eyes. Instead of the Jesus as just one more man with dirty feet, they see the divine Jesus positively glowing with the glory of God. What’s more, they also experience Jesus as in visible communion with the sources behind the Law and the Prophets.

I believe that this is one small piece of what worship is about. Worship is about declaring that this finite world in which we live is also a place in which the full glory of God is present among us. Worship uses liturgy, art, Word, sacrament and fellowship to proclaim this truth of communion-with-God-in-this-world, and also to orchestrate opportunities for worship to sometimes turn into an actual experience of the thin places of this world.

In my personal experience, corporate worship does sometimes (though rarely) succeed in becoming such a thin place experience. Yet, even when worship seems boring and repetitive, I believe the to be tremendously important. Participating in worship proclaims a truth that is always present, but that some only rarely experience—that though we live in a creation that hurts and struggle and must pass away, we also live in the presence of, and in relationship with, the Holy One, and are surrounded by God’s grace and glory; even if we don’t know it. There is great wonder to be found in this creation, and we need to recognize and celebrate that truth. Worship is an intentional effort at recognizing and celebrating the Holy.

Besides understanding worship, there is another aspect of this passage that I love. I find it fascinating that in the very moment when the disciples experienced the power and glory of God in Jesus, the words that the Voice of the Lord spoke were the same words that were s[plem when Jesus was baptized. The same voice spoke the same words at Jesus’ all-too-human baptism and at his all-so-divine transfiguration: “This is my (God’s) Son, whom I Love.”

On the other hand, at Jesus’ transfiguration the Voice added, “Listen to him.”

I suppose I am a Christian and a minister to some degree because of those moments in which I have experienced great awe and wonder in glimpses of the divine. I truth, those moments are precious. They somehow manage to transcend the routines and drudgery that are make up so much of life. Yet, I must admit that only a very small part of my life has been filled with such wonder.

Even so, because I have glimpsed God’s glory, and just as important, because liturgy and true Christian community keep proclaiming that reality even in the dry times and even in the painful times of my life, I have found that I am fed by this holiness and glory—and the potential that this glory holds for all—both in good times and in bad. In my life, and I believe in the lives of most people of faith, I/we continue living the way I/we do out of faith, not sight.

However, having said that, I also believe that this awareness of the divine power and glory of God creates certain challenges for people living out of hope. First, we need to be continually striving to proclaim what is true, namely the truth of this reality of God’s grace and glory all the time by what we do and say. Consistency is important.

Second, we need to be careful in how we proclaim such things. I sometimes find it tempting to “force” the message by pretending to have wonderful experiences in moments that are not “thin place” moments. It is tempting to buy into the idea that I ought to “look holy” or others will lose the message, or to believe that if I act holy enough I will experience these special moments. These temptations have nothing to do with reality, or with what honors God.

But most importantly, I find that this passage encourages me to stay the course and work for healing, justice and reconciliation in this broken world even when I am feeling overwhelmed by this world’s troubles. I believe this is the deepest teaching of the passage. After all, Jesus does not let the disciples stay at the “thin place” on top of the mountain. Instead, he insists that they accompany him back down the mountain, where they immediately find people suffering physically, spiritually, and socially. And so they wade into the struggles of life once more.

This is the essence of hope. Not that we always (or even normally) feel holy ecstasy, or even great emotional confidence. The essence of hope is based on glimpsing what is true beyond the immediate troubles and, living out of that reality, to participate in God’s work of addressing the bad news of this world with the good news of God.

Monday, April 19, 2010

The Voice of the Lord: Part II


The season before Lent normally begins and ends with two Scripture accounts that serve as bookends around important portions of the gospel. Specifically, these portions of Scripture show Jesus, the man, as the Savior in whom the fullness of God dwells. Interestingly, both of these bookend passages (the Baptism of Jesus, and the Transfiguration) include an audible hearing of the Voice of the Lord. Today’s blog is about the first of these, the baptism of Jesus.
The thing that strikes me about Jesus’ baptism (look in Matthew 3, Mark 1, or Luke 3) is that it was a sinners’ baptism. People who needed a fresh start were coming to John the Baptist to be washed in the Jordan River as a sign of their need (and desire) to make a clean, new beginning. John called them to repentance of their sin--a turning of their lives away from whatever in their life had left them lost or broken and onto God’s path of right relationship and right actions.

Yet, according to the Scriptures (2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 4:15) Jesus was a sinless man. Even so, as Jesus watched the people going to John for a fresh start he made the decision to join specifically with those people.

Surely this act of joining with sinners in their baptism was a powerful way of showing Christ’s intention as Savior. In Jesus’ baptism, we see that Jesus insisted on identifying himself with us, the sinners, and with all creatures that suffer from the brokenness of this fallen universe. In his baptism Jesus was declaring himself a full human being—a true part of the created order of the universe. For us humans, who were created with a need to understand, this was as if God were telling us that God was taking action by sending us salvation through a human Savior—that God was identifying us completely, even with our human DNA. I am hoping that we will truly get what this means: God will not let us be lost forever but will reach out with real salvation that will make a difference. Indeed, it was at this very moment, when Jesus came up out of the waters of a sinner’s baptism that the Voice of God spoke, letting us know: This (this creature, this man that absolutely insists on being related to all of you) is my son, with whom I am well pleased (Matthew 3:17).

For Christians this should have two powerful messages which we need to grasp with all our might. The first is that we are beloved by God. Not only did God somehow become fully a creature in the birth of Jesus, but God joins with us even in our sin, and calls us to repentance and new life. For people who don’t know hope, this is a powerful message. If we don’t know how to save ourselves, somehow God is coming for us and we need to watch and be ready. But in the meantime, we need to hear the message—God joined with us in the coming of Jesus, in the baptism of Jesus, and God will find a way of joining with you (us) today, wherever you are. Don’t listen to those who say you are beyond hope. Don’t listen to those who say you are not worthy of help. Listen to the Voice of the Lord: this Savior comes to bring real, life-changing salvation. Be ready and don’t lose hope.

Second, if we are followers of our Savior, we need to see that Jesus demonstrated what faithful human life looks like. This means that we Jesus followers need to ask how we can embody that hope that Jesus showed us. Specifically, if Jesus was willing to join with us and with the brokenness of creation, who are we called to join with? Where do we see creation broken and failing? Where do we see people burdened with their guilt or shame, or with their hurt from sin that has been committed against them? Where do we see people cut off from the hope that they had and in need of new hope? Where, in our own lives, are we in contact with those who truly need allies of hope? How can we join with them, as Jesus joined with us? How can we help people not to be alone, without hope, in their brokenness?